About the Firmware Restoration CD (Intel-based Macs)

This article contains information about the Firmware Restoration CD included with Intel-based Macs.

The Firmware Restoration CD can restore the firmware of an Intel-based Macintosh computer.

Note: Restoring your firmware will reset some of your computer's preferences to defaults.

You can only use this to restore the firmware after an interrupted or unsuccessful update. If your computer is already in this state, you'll need to download the software and create the CD on another Macintosh computer, or you can take your computer to an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider to restore your firmware. This CD can be created on either a PowerPC- or Intel-based Mac, but only works with Intel-based Macs.

Note: This CD cannot be used to return an Intel-based Macintosh computer's firmware to a previous version if a successful update has already been performed.

Download the correct Firmware Restoration CD image

You can download the software for the Firmware Restoration CD from Apple Downloads. Different computers use different versions of the Restoration CD. A table on each download page identifies which model is appropriate for which Restoration CD image. To see your Mac's model information (Model Identifier), follow these steps on the computer you will be using the CD with:

From the Apple menu, choose About this Mac.

Click the "More Info" button. This opens System Profiler.

The Model Identifier is located in the Hardware Overview, which is the first window you should see. It looks something like this: "MacBookPro 2,1".

Compare the model information to the list on the download page in order to choose the correct Restoration CD image to download for your computer.

Restoring firmware with a Firmware Restoration CD

To restore your computer's firmware, you must first create a CD using the disk image named "FirmwareRestorationCD.dmg" by following these steps:

Open Disk Utility (located at /Applications/Utilities).

Click the Burn icon or select the "Burn..." menu item from the Images menu.

Navigate to where FirmwareRestorationCD.dmg is located, and click the Burn button.

Insert a blank recordable CD

Click the Burn button to create the Firmware Restoration CD. The files are burned to the disc.

Next, use the Firmware Restoration CD to restore your Firmware:

Make sure that the computer you are trying to restore is plugged into an AC outlet.

Turn on the computer and continue holding the Power button. The sleep LED will blink rapidly, then slowly, then rapidly (3 quick blinks, 3 slow blinks, 3 quick blinks).

On Macs that don't have a sleep LED, tones are used instead. Hold down the power button until you hear 3 long tones, then 3 short tones, then 3 long tones.

On Macs that use a tray-load optical drive, the tray will open to allow the Restoration CD to be inserted.

Insert the Firmware Restoration CD while the lights are blinking or tones sounding, then release the Power button. A long tone is played once the recovery process has started.

A progress bar appears beneath an Apple logo on a gray screen. The progress bar indicates the firmware is being updated. Do not disconnect power, shut down, or restart the computer during the update or you will need to start the restoration process again beginning with step 6.

The computer will restart automatically after the firmware is updated.